Eleven
by you're-not-your
Summary: After Rue dies, her body is brought to District 11 for her parents, her 10 year-old sister Sage, eight year-old sisters Willow, Heather, and Lila, and three year-old Saffron. Two years later, Sage is reaped and has to participate in the 76th Hunger Games. There, along with other tributes, she forms a group of allies called the Outsiders, the exact opposite of the Careers.
1. Prologue

Prologue

I stare at the casket. It can't be true. Rue would never die. She can't. Still, a voice whispers in my head. _She's dead, Sage. Dead. _I can't make a single sound. Mother and Father are sobbing. Saffron's to young too understand. My younger siblings, who are triplets, Lila, Heather, and Willow, seem to. Something dawns on me. With Rue gone, I'm the oldest. I'll have to take care of my family now.

As we watch the replay of the Games, we see how Rue died. A sudden anger burns in me. For the Capitol. For the boy who killed my sister. Even for that girl, Katniss Everdeen. I had hoped that Katniss would protect Rue. I know its wrong, but I can't help but think that Katniss had let us down. That she was responsible for Rue, but she failed us.

That night, my older sister's death replays in my head. But instead of the boy dying, he rips the arrow in his neck out, and starts coming for me. I wake up panting. I glance around my dingy little cottage room until my eyes land on my little sister, Saffron. She rolls over in her sleep, mumbling something about Rue and coming back. I dunk my head into my pillow and squeeze my eyes shut.

That's all I can do to stop myself from crying.


	2. Reaping

Two years later...

As I signal quitting time, I think about my older sister. How this was her job before she died. A mockingjay repeats the signal. I whistle again, just in case. Then, I start for home. On my way, I stop by the market like I always do. It's not like I buy anything though. My family doesn't have enough money. A richer citizen, Olive, stops me and gives me a few legs of groosling. The adults in the district are always nicer to me. I think it's because Rue died and they feel sorry for me. "Thanks," I say. And I mean it.

When I get home, my mother tells me that Thresh's family is coming. It's not news. We get together a lot since our family members died. I remember the groosling, so I tell her, "Look what I got today," and I hold out the meat. My mother takes them from me and holds them like they're gold. Technically, for us, it is something like gold. Saffron waddles in and says, "Yum. Good stuff."

Thresh's family arrive and his sister sits next to me. Her name is Iris. She's nineteen. And she's about the closest thing I've got for a friend. I'm not exactly a celebrity among other chidren. Her grandmother takes a seat next to my father. "Hey, Sage." I jump. "Oh, hi, Iris." I reply, relieved. Dinner goes fast. Nothing special. Except tomorrow is the reapings.

When Iris and her grandmother leaves, and Saffron, Heather, Lila, and Willow are put to bed, I start heading to my room. I hear sobbing sounds coming from my parents room as I pass. It's Mother by the sound of it. That's odd. She rarely cried after Rue's death. As if she had cried all her tears out that day. Apparently, it's about tomorrow. She's afraid that I'll get picked. I rush to my room, not wanting to hear more.

The next day, we all head down to the square. I can see Mother holding back tears. As I go to the twelve year old section, I start to pray that I won't get picked. I'm crossing my fingers, doing everything I can to hope that I won't get picked. I'm praying so hard that I don't hear my name get called. The announcer calls me again. That's when I hear it. I freeze, with only one thing in my head. _They must have rigged it. _The Capitol just wants entertainment. To see what will happen when a tribute's sister is chosen. I can hear my mother going hysterical. But some how, it seems like it's far away. Like I'm in my own world. Somebody pushes me. Probably a Peacekeeper. My feet start moving. I see the triplets, standing in shock. Saffron seems to understand a little. She keeps on saying, "Bye, Sage! See you soon! Bwing Wue! Come back!"

As I head to the Justice Hall, I try not to cry. I tell myself, "You can do this. You've been through a lot. Don't cry." At the same time, a series of thoughts go through my head. Should I run away? Should I hide in the arena? Should commit suicide or try to die in the blood bath? Should I kill everything I see? Sould I get allies, or should I be alone? How do I get sponsors? Will I survive? Will I die of starvation, like District 12?

Finally, my mind settles on one thing. I will try to win for Rue.


	3. The Capitol

When I get up to the front, the lady in the blue who announces the names asks for volunteers. Nobody does. Did I mention that I wasn't exactly a celebrity among my peers? The boy from my district is a guy named Blaze. He looks like one of the boys who used to throw wads of grass at me, but I'm not so sure. Now that Chaff and Seeder have died in the Quarter Quell, I wonder who will be our mentor. Apparently, it's a man who has a scary scar and is called Daved. I can't help thinking, _it's going to be a nightmare._

When it's time for visitors, all I'm expecting are my family. Sure enough, my mother bursts right in, crying like crazy. She grabs me and hugs me so tight I think I might be killed before the Games. Even Father is blinking back tears, and that's saying something. Time's up, and I think that I'm done with visitors. But Iris comes in, and her grandmother, too. "Hey, squirt," she says, but I can tell that she's sad. I don't say anything. It's not the happiest thing when you're going to get killed in a stupid game like your older sister. The last thing she tells me before she leaves is, "Knock 'em dead, Sage. Literally." I smile.

On the train ride to the Capitol, things are kind of tense. The food is good though. Real good. Daved always is grumbling, "You're never gonna do it. Nuh uh." I think that's all he ever says.

At the Capitol, we are assigned a floor in a tower. The first day, I explore a bit and then hide out in my room. The next day, I'm called to a meeting with Blaze and Daved. Daved tries to get us ready for the Games. "It's gonna be tough out there. So you need to be prepared. Now get down and give me fifty push ups!" "Yes, sir," Blaze says. What a suck up. So, in the end, we end up doing two hundred push ups in all, one hundred fifty sit ups, and are able to run four miles without stopping. I've never thought I'd say this, but I can't wait to finally be in training with the other tributes. When we watch the recap of the reapings, with the blue lady whose name is Sapphire, I think of the District 10, and 12 tributes. District 10 has a sweet looking girl and a really scared looking boy. District 12 has both tributes with brown hair and gray eyes. Sometimes I wonder if the boy tribute from two years ago, Peeta Mellark, is the only person from twelve with blond hair and blue eyes. Another guy sticks in my head. Javier, from seven. He has a permanent scowl planted on his face and long shaggy hair. He looks scary.

Blaze and I meet our stylists and prep teams for the tribute parade. As my prep team gets me ready, I start to talk to them. I think they're pretty funny. One, Indigo, is especially funny. She talks about parties with funny hats. "This one guest, came with a big loop on her head! She was crashing into everybody. It was terrible. " I giggle. When I meet my stylist, she says, "Hello. My name is Nyssa. I will be your stylist for the seventy sixth Hunger Games." She sounds like she rehearsed it. She probably did. She tells me that Blaze and I are supposed to have corresponding costumes. After she dresses me up and puts pastel colored make up on me, I look like some leaf fairy or something. I've got a soft billowy dress that is white and fades into chartreuse and a crown woven with leaves in my hair. "All you have to do is smile and be the adorable little girl you are!" She tells me. Ookaay...

Blaze has this tunic with the "white fading into chartreuse" thing going and a crown of leaves same as me. The only thing different is that he has a leaf belt too. When we get into our chariots and the parade starts going, I smile as big as I can and wave. I'm guessing I scraped up a few sponsors. When we are done, I glance around at the other tributes. My eyes land on District 12. Katniss Everdeen is talking to the girl tribute. I guess she feels I'm staring at her, because she looks up and I our eyes meet. Katniss and I weren't exactly the best of friends. There was that time I got kind of mad at her because Rue died, and the other time when during the Victory Tour I got kind of mad at her for not mentioning Rue. But then she did thank us, so I guess that was okay. Katniss stares at me, and I see her eyes filling up with tears. And I know why. I'm the exact copy of my older sister, so her seeing me is like another Rue in the Hunger Games. She puts her hand over her mouth. I know what to do. I raise my three middle fingers, put them to my lips, and holds them out in her direction. She takes her hand away from her mouth and does the same. I turn back to my mentor, my eyes shiny with tears.


	4. Cypress

"Everybody up! Today's going to be a busy day!" Sapphire shrieks at my door. I groan as I get up and pull on a T-shirt and pants. I comb my short, curly, brown hair and brush my teeth.

"Today's training. Starts at ten. Do your best. Try to get some allies." Daved says at breakfast. He scowls at the word 'allies.' Looks like he didn't have many in the Games he was in.

"Yes, sir." Blaze replies automatically. I just sit and have a massive internal eyeroll. It's been going on since we've gotten here. Daved will say something, and then Blaze will say something that is completely agreeing to what he says. I try not to puke or do something like roll my eyes.

I meet Sapphire and Blaze at the elevator at five minutes to ten, and we head down to the ground level of the tribute building. Most of the tributes are there, but District Twelve still has to come. I look around. We are in large gym. The girl from 10 is standing with her arms around herself. The boys from One and Two are arm wrestling. Someone pins the number _11_ on my back like the other tributes. When District Twelve arrives, the trainer lady, Atala, tells us about training. There are different stations, and we are allowed to go to anyone we like. No fighting with other tributes. When Atala lets us go, I wander around until I find the knife station. The instructor tells me how to throw one, then lets me try. I pick a knife that's small, sharp, and resembles a dagger. I throw it, and it nearly hits the target. After a few more tries, I hit the bullseye. I smile to myself. At least I'm not hopeless. At the fire building station, it's just me, the instructor, and another girl from twelve. After fifteen minutes, I make a decent fire. I notice the other girl. She's having trouble. "Here," I say, and help her with the flint and steel you have to use to make a fire.

She looks at me and smiles a bit. She's got dark hair, which is tied back in a ponytail. Her gray eyes are kind of sad. "Thanks," she whispers.

When I arrive at the axe throwing station, I can't even lift the axe. The other boy from Seven, Javier, snickers. I glare at him and walk away. As I'm walking, I notice some Careers picking on the girl I helped. They are saying something about her district and family. The girl isn't saying anything to defend herself.

Without meaning to, I say, "Shut up! Can't you see it's making her feel bad?"

"So what? Why should we care? Someone's gonna kill her anyways." A boy sneers, while the girl laughs.

"What if someone did that to you? How would you feel? You guys are proud of your district, right? So leave her alone!" I snap.

"Jeez, What's your problem?" Another boy says, and they all walk away.

At lunch, which is a bunch of tables and carts of food around the tables, all the Careers push tables together and sit. The rest of us are scattered among the other tables. I end up next to the girl from twelve.

After a while of eating in awkward scilence, I say, "Hi."

She mumbles "Hi" back.

"So," I say even more awkwardly than the scilence.

"So what?"

"So, isn't kind of awkward just sitting here and doing nothing?"

"Um, okay..."

"What's your name?"

"Cypress."

"No offense, but isn't the name 'Cypress' supposed to be for people who kick butt?"

"I know. It's ironic that way." She says ruefully. (No pun intended.)

"Well, my name's Sage."

"Good to know."

"Wanna be allies?" I ask. Cypress seems pretty nice.

"Yes. I would love to be allies." Cypress replies.

Author's note: Sorry. This wasn't my best. :)

Copyright © 2012 anniema3


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